The Eiffel Tower is located at the extreme of the Parc du Champ de Mars. The four pillars supporting the tower are aligned to the points of the compass. The Eiffel Tower was built in Paris by Gustave Eiffel, a French engineer specialized in revolutionary steel constructions, for the 1889 world exhibition. The tower originally had no practical use. The intent was just to demonstrate the capabilities of modern engineering. A daring engineer's dream, the Eiffel Tower weighs 7000 tons, but the pressure it applies on the ground is only equivalent to that of a chair with a man seated on it! Each one of the about 12,000 iron pieces were designed separately to give them exactly the shape needed. All pieces were prefabricated and fit together using approx. 7 million nails.

At 300 meters, it remained the world highest building until the construction of the Chrysler building in New York City in 1929. Now 320 m. high with its television antennas, it still incredibly towers above Paris, a city almost free from skyscrapers. Open air elevators bring visitors up to the first (57m. high), the second (115m. high) and the third level (276m. high).

On the Ground: The machinery of the 1899 elevator. Every visitor with a ticket to visit the monument can watch the machinery of the corresponding elevator in operation in the East and West pillars. This voyage underground, in an atmosphere which evokes Jules Verne, lets the visitors discover the imposing hydraulic machines designed by Gustave Eiffel. This machinery is still used after being restored and computerized.

Consistently modern, the Tower makes a special effort to surprise visitors. Do not miss the latest futurist, interactive attraction — the Eiffel Tower Visitors Galaxy — where you take part in the construction of a virtual Tower. In conjunction with the Caisse Nationale des Monuments Historiques et des Sites, the Tower offers groups a series of conference tours, highlighting the history of the monument in its time, its contribution to modern metal architecture, and all the scientific and technical applications experimented on the Tower.

Metro Line 6 : Bir Hakeim
RER C : Champs de Mars
Bus : 42, 69, 72, 82

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